Daily door-to-door delivery: It’s not just more convenient. It’s better for the environment.

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Tuesday May 31 2016

Canada Post delivers billions of letters and parcels to homes and businesses every year. Many Canadians consider it a trusted and valuable service.

But did you know that home mail delivery is the most environmentally friendly way of moving letters and parcels from sender to receiver? And it’s greener when it’s done five or six days a week.

Why Canada Post is the greener option

The boom in online shopping means that millions more parcels are being delivered by Canada Post and other delivery companies. That’s a lot of cars and trucks on delivery runs.

Last year, the number of parcels delivered by Canada Post alone increased by almost 10%. But with Canada Post, the amount of greenhouse gas emissions barely increases. Why? Because, unlike other delivery companies, Canada Post already has people delivering mail and parcels to every neighbourhood in the country on a daily basis.

From an environmental perspective, Canada Post is the best delivery option. According to a 2011 report, getting a parcel delivered by Canada Post can cause up to 6 times less C02 emissions than an overnight delivery by a courier, and 3 times less than having a customer make a 5-km trip to pick it up in a store.

Why daily delivery is the greener option

If we cut mail delivery back to three days per week, Canada Post would lose its environmental advantage. It would make Canada Post’s parcel delivery more expensive, which would result in the corporation losing market share to less environmentally efficient companies.

A vehicle delivering letters and parcels together keeps down the cost and environmental impact of each piece.

What if I don’t get my mail every day?

Lots of us don’t get mail every day. That kind of fluctuation in volume is already built into the delivery system. Having carriers deliver fewer days per week would only make it harder to reduce our carbon footprint.

Businesses of all sizes rely on daily delivery for cash flow and time-sensitive items. So courier companies would step in to fill in the gap, meaning three or more delivery trucks and vans driving the same streets.

Why door-to-door delivery is the greener option

There are many reasons why people hate so-called “community mailboxes”:

they cause more traffic congestion

lower property values

thefts, and injuries due to slips and falls

They also cause more people to drive to pick up their mail, creating more pollution. Cars sit idling while residents struggle to open frozen locks and get the mail.

One poll shows that over a third (34.2%) of people drive to pick up their mail from a group mailbox.

Our daily door-to-door delivery network is part of a sustainable future for Canada Post.